5 Strays Darcy found, and 1 that found her
by general zargon
Summary: Darcy has always had a thing for strays, particularly the human kind. Rated T for language.
1. One who changes shape

_Author's Note: Because I couldn't put it off any longer. I had to write this bunny to get it out of my head, so I decided why not, I'll make the fic I post on Halloween!_

* * *

 _I. Vanessa Carlysle aka Copycat_

* * *

Darcy had always had a thing about strays.

As a child her nurturing instincts kicked into overdrive whenever she saw some poor, lonely animal sitting all alone and she always had the urge to take it home and smother it with love. Sometimes this resulted in a new pet like the time she'd found a stray guinea pig, and other times it got her a lecture when she brought home creatures that weren't generally accepted pets, such as when she was nine and had brought home a half-grown bobcat.

Her compassion for strays didn't change as she grew older; if anything it got stronger, and the strays she was drawn to had changed to include the human variety. If you really thought about it, that kind of explained her attachment to Jane Foster - that woman certainly needed more looking after than most people, and Darcy was eager to rise to the challenge the astrophysicist presented.

The fact that she was getting the science credits she needed to graduate was just icing on the cake.

Not that Jane was technically a stray, since she had Erik, but two weeks into her internship Darcy had declared Jane the sister she'd always wanted. So no, Jane wasn't a stray, she was family. And Erik had his stray moments too, really. When he went on Science!benders with Jane, most notably.

Anyway as family, it was Darcy's sacred duty to help Jane take her mind off her alien boyfriend who was currently on another planet. Although it might not have been her best idea to drag Jane to a strip club...

* * *

It was as they were leaving the strip club that Darcy found and subsequently adopted her first human stray.

"Come on, Jane, let's get you back to the hotel..." Darcy coaxed the drunk astrophysicist to her feet and began half-supporting, half-dragging the other woman to the door.

The success of the night was pretty debatable, as on one hand Jane was too drunk to think about her hot alien booty-call, but on the other the strip club she'd brought them to had been expensive and her wallet was significantly lighter from tipping the servers. It had been classy up to a point, and there hadn't been any cages hanging from the ceiling, but Darcy had still felt dirty after an hour of sitting next to Jane at her table and chugging tequila shots (because Jane was a lightweight when it came to that brand of alcohol).

Stumbling out the door of the club, listening with one ear to Jane's sleepy drunken mumbling, she was just buzzed enough herself that she almost missed the sound of a slap coming from the alley they were passing. Almost, but not quite.

Leaving Jane slumped against a convenient streetlight with strict orders to scream if anyone besides Darcy tried to grab her, the brunette went to investigate as shouting reached her ears.

Peering into the alley revealed a man with stringy, greasy hair dressed in a ragged black suit backing a woman dressed in heels, lingerie, a coat, and not much else up against the brick wall. Anyone else watching would have assumed it was just an argument between a hooker and her pimp and moved along while trying not to be noticed. Anyone else but Darcy, who promptly pulled out her taser from her purse, yelled, "Hey douchebag!" and fired the minute the asshole turned to face her.

He dropped like a sack of bricks, landing in a puddle of something questionable and twitching spastically.

From there it was easy for Darcy to collect the stunned stripper, detach her taser from the downed asshole (who had by then pissed himself), and herd the other woman out of the alley back to where Jane was leaning against the streetlight and practically sleeping on her feet. The glazed, half-lidded eyes and small snorts/snores were a big hint that the tiny astrophysicist was well over halfway to dreamland.

Surprisingly Darcy managed to get all three of them back to the hotel room without incident.

* * *

The next day started when Darcy shuffled into the small kitchenette that came with the room and a hungover Jane looked up from her coffee and asked, "Why is there a stripper passed out on the couch?" Her expression of confusion was actually cute, Darcy thought, and helped herself to some of the coffee.

Her boss made some pretty mean coffee when she put her mind to it. Probably a self-defense mechanism learned from those all-night Science!benders, Darcy mused.

After her usual post-drinking headache had receded a bit, Darcy poured herself another cup of coffee and padded over to the couch, leaning over the back to take a look at who was on it.

Dark hair, check. Pretty face, check. Curvy body, check. Lingerie just barely visible beneath a buttoned up, mid-thigh length black coat, check. Strappy heels tossed carelessly near the paper-strewn coffee table, check. Yup, that was definitely the same stripper she remembered saving last night (and bringing back to the hotel room despite the woman staring at her suspiciously the entire trip).

Deciding that it would be best to start things off on a good note, Darcy went back to the coffee machine to fix a cup for the sleeping woman - adding just a touch of cream because her nurturing senses were tingling - and then walked over to set it on the coffee table.

A grand total of five minutes after Darcy had set the beverage of the gods down within easy reach from the couch, the stripper's nose twitched and Darcy watched in fascination as, without opening her eyes, the woman managed to reach out, grab the mug, and pull it to her. That took talent, Darcy decided, and evidently Jane agreed if the astrophysicist's impressed look were anything to go by.

Both Jane and Darcy had finished their own coffee and set the mugs in the sink by the time the stripper had taken several sips of her coffee and decided to open her eyes.

There was an awkward silence, which Darcy definitely wasn't going to let hang around, so she just said, "Hey, I'm Darcy, and that's Jane. Don't know if we introduced ourselves last night."

Another moment of silence while the stripper swallowed her mouthful of coffee, but then she replied, "No, we didn't really get around to introductions, strangely enough. My name is Vanessa, and you're the one that tased Lucas." There was actually a small note of respect in her voice when Vanessa mentioned that, and Darcy subtly preened.

Jane spoke up next, "Well then, now that that's out of the way, who's up for breakfast? I'm craving pancakes."

"Pancakes it is!" Darcy declared, moving over to the hotel phone so she could order room service, pausing as she turned slightly to look at Vanessa as she asked, "What about you? Blueberry pancakes okay, or do you appreciate the finer things in life and enjoy chocolate chip better?"

It took a few minutes, but Vanessa answered, seeming oddly hesitant, "...Chocolate chip, please."

"Coming right up!"

* * *

Between the three of them enough room service pancakes to feed Thor were eaten, but Darcy didn't really care as she leaned back in her chair, rubbing her full belly and sighing contently. Jane had been coaxed into eating five whole pancakes, which Darcy counted as a major success, and Vanessa had been lured into joining them at the kitchenette table by the smell of the breakfast food.

It was a rather surreal breakfast, seeing as their guest didn't know their last names and they didn't know hers, but somehow they got through it. It probably helped that both Jane and Darcy were both still a little hungover and therefore weren't up for conversation and Vanessa didn't try to initiate one. It wasn't the tensest situation Darcy had ever been in, but it was definitely somewhere in the top twenty.

Surprisingly enough Vanessa stayed after breakfast was through and Jane started doing Science! with the stack of papers she'd brought with her (her equipment being unable to fit inside the hotel room). Darcy tried to tell her that they would be leaving soon anyway, but Jane was immoveable when she set her mind to something, and so her attempt failed rather spectacularly.

Because Vanessa was there, standing rather awkwardly in the kitchenette, Darcy promptly enlisted her in trying to transcribe Jane's notes into something the average person could read. Well, more like she dragged the other woman into helping her, but why split hairs? Any help making sense of Jane's handwriting was welcome.

Lunch came around and Darcy called this neat little Italian place she'd found and ordered food for her, Jane, and Vanessa. After the food arrived, Darcy paying the delivery boy, it was quickly eaten, Darcy and Vanessa trading off to make sure that Jane ate all of her food. It was only after lunch that Darcy realized what Vanessa was wearing - or rather, what she _wasn't_ wearing, and then she felt like an idiot as she slipped away to dig through her and Jane's luggage.

A combination of one of Jane's shirts and a pair of Darcy's tighter jeans turned out to fit Vanessa pretty well, once Darcy shoved the clothes into the other woman's arms and pushes her into the bathroom to put them on, anyway. There was a fifteen minute argument between them about whether Vanessa would accept the clothes or not while Jane did Science! in the background. Darcy won the battle, and felt prouder for it when Vanessa exited the bathroom sans coat and plus shirt and jeans. She pulled them off rather well, considering Jane's plaid shirt was a bit baggy and Darcy's pants were a few inches too short above the ankle.

Clothes successfully given and accepted, Darcy and Vanessa turned their attention back to Jane and her nearly-illegible notes.

It was good to have a minion, Darcy thought in the back of her mind, it made work go by so much faster.

* * *

Astrophysicist and intern were due to leave at noon the next day, and Vanessa had spent that night sleeping on the couch again.

Darcy's mothering instincts were going into overdrive, and that's when she presented her split-second idea to Jane, got the tiny woman's approval, and then went to inform a half-asleep Vanessa that they were kidnapping her.

She took it rather well, all things considered, only blinking a few times before shrugging, a sort of resigned expression on her face. She didn't even leave the hotel room after being informed of her imminent kidnapping, which Darcy found rather odd. Didn't she want to get some stuff from her own place?

Vanessa must have read the expression on Darcy's face because the intern was soon informed that no, she didn't have anything at her place she wanted, and her driver's license and cash were in her coat. Okay, that pretty much settled that then...and Darcy totally didn't make a trip to the convenience store to get cookies just for Vanessa. Really, she didn't. But for the record, her homemade cookies would totally kick that store-bought brand's ass.

The few hours leading up to their departure were spent frantically organizing and packing up the papers that Jane had spread almost throughout the whole room, what with all the equipment still being in the camper and/or van parked outside the hotel. It would be a tight fit for all three of them in the van, but Darcy wasn't going back on her decision. She was sticking to it, even when she and Vanessa got into a fight over what kind of music to listen to.

Vanessa won that battle, but Darcy was already planning her counterattack.

* * *

The second town they stop at Darcy dragged Vanessa clothes shopping, because she couldn't keep mixing and matching things from her and Jane. They'd have to do laundry all the sooner, anyway.

Vanessa put up a token protest, but finally conceded when Darcy threatened to make her wear Jane's physics t-shirt and the bright purple bellbottoms she'd bought on a dare.

* * *

Finding out their newest lab minion could change her appearance with a thought almost a full month later was a bit of a shock for Jane and Darcy, but really, that was probably the _least_ traumatizing thing to happen that day.

It all started when they got up that morning to finish setting up equipment in their latest stop in the middle of nowhere and walked out of the trailer to see guys in black combat gear pointing guns at them, and it pretty much went downhill from there. Darcy was chucked in one black creepy van and Jane put into another one with considerably more carefulness (great to see where your priorities are, jerks!). Darcy couldn't see where Vanessa was, but since the other woman sometimes had trouble sleeping and went for walks, she held out hope that the goons hadn't gotten her too.

One trip to a creepy secret base later - complete with higher ranking stooge sporting a bad comb-over and faux kind tone - and Darcy and Jane were put into cells on opposite sides of the hallway. Darcy had been relieved of her taser and Jane only had one pencil hidden in her hair (which was still good, because Jane would totally stab someone with it if she had to).

Neither woman had any idea what the goons and head stooge wanted from them, but they certainly didn't want to stick around to find out.

A quick search of their cells revealed nothing that could be used to pick the lock on the doors, and Darcy got even more pissed off when she realized that the goons had even taken her I-Pod. Damnit, it was like that time with SHIELD all over again! Stupid jack-booted thugs!

Darcy spent ten whole minutes ranting about iPod stealing jack-booted goons, and Jane muttered something when she was done about just knowing that all her research had been stolen. Again. Both women were understandably ticked off about their situation, and Darcy was actually contemplating letting Jane try Science! in order to get them out of there, despite the risk of explosions.

Turns out they don't need to try anything crazy, because before a full day of their captivity is up the head stooge walks into the prison block and _unlocks their cells_.

What the fuck?

And then the head stooge melts away, _melts_ , and then Vanessa is standing where the head stooge had been, still holding the keys to Jane and Darcy's cells and looking nervous and worried. A minute later and Jane snaps out of her shock and tells Darcy, "Escape now, gaping later," and off they go.

Escape is probably too strong a word, because they really pretty much walked out, Vanessa leading them down side-tunnels and passages littered with dust, somehow knowing all the access codes to the keypads. They emerge onto a deserted street in what looks like a bad part of town to be in, which narrows down where they are since there's only one town within driving distance of where they'd set up Jane's equipment.

The three of them get back to the campsite just as the sun is rising and wordlessly begin packing up everything, Jane muttering about how the area didn't have the right atmosphere conductive to creating an Einstein-Rosen Bridge anyway. They really didn't want to be around if the goons decided to try for round two.

It was only after they'd packed everything, hitched the van to the trailer, and then headed off that Vanessa spoke up, voice quieter than usual. Jane and Darcy just listened, Darcy making sure to keep her eyes on the road.

"My name is Vanessa Carlysle," She began, "And I'm a lot older than I look."

What follows is a life-story that makes Darcy pull over so she and Jane can pull Vanessa into the hug to end all hugs, Darcy maybe sniffling a bit and wiping some dust from her eyes and shut up, don't judge her! You'd cry too!

Jane spoke up, "Listen, Vanessa, you can stay with us as long as you want. We don't want to make you do anything you don't want to, and shape-changing powers or not, you're still the same woman who helps Darcy feed me and watches movies with us and goes out and buys pop-tarts when Darcy can't. I'm kind of surprised you stuck around this long, considering we pretty much kidnapped you, but I'm so happy you did. You're our friend, mine and Darcy's, and we want you to be comfortable with us."

By the end of Jane's speech Darcy wasn't the only one crying.


	2. What castle walls or dungeon halls

_Author's Note: Okay, this one might be a bit different than what I normally try, but here goes!_

* * *

 _II. Katherine Pryde aka Shadowcat_

* * *

Two weeks after their daring escape from the Goon Squad via Vanessa's awesome powers, Darcy found her second stray in the form of a sixteen year-old raiding their motel room fridge.

It was a rather unusual situation to walk in on, as she had been sure she'd locked the door before she'd headed out for the midnight coffee run, and she had used her keycard to get back in. None of the windows were open, even if the room was on the first floor. She took a moment to absorb the strangeness of the moment, and she blinked when the girl emerged from the fridge with the bowl of leftover pasta from dinner.

Darcy was glad Jane was on the roof with Vanessa because the astrophysicist had been known to fight people over her intern's homemade pasta.

Then the girl turned around, Darcy got her first good look at her, and the young thief froze as she noticed that someone was now in the room. It was a bizarre tableau that didn't last long because Darcy's mothering instincts fairly roared when she saw how thin the girl looked and the torn, dirty state of her clothes.

Blue eyes narrowed, and the girl began to look even more scared than she had previously before Darcy said bluntly, "Sit down and wait, that pasta is no good cold. And you need veggies, girl, you're skin and bones!" So it was decreed, and so shall it be, because the moment she finished speaking Darcy turned into a culinary whirlwind, snatching the pasta from the girl and grabbing bowls and plates from their places on the counter.

Ten minutes later and the young thief looked a bit shell-shocked as she stared down at the plate of warm pasta in front of her, and just as Darcy set a small bowl of green beans next to her the smaller brunette blurted out, "Why are you being nice to me? I totally broke into your room. I could be a murderer for all you know!"

Darcy just gave the girl a Look over her glasses, and the girl had the grace to look a bit abashed because yeah, that was kind of unlikely.

The teenager quietly ate her food, making a soft, surprised noise when she tasted the pasta. Darcy smiled smugly as she set a glass of orange juice down next to the bowl of veggies.

Of course just as the teenager finished the pasta and started on the green beans Jane and Vanessa came inside to ask what was taking so long with the coffee and things _really_ got confusing.

Jane ended up tackling the sixteen year-old when she made a run for the door.

* * *

Her name was Katherine Pryde, they learned when things calmed down some, but her friends called her Kitty, not that she had a lot of those anymore, she had added quietly.

Apparently Kitty had run away from home after a giant fight with her parents - what the fight was about she didn't say, and they didn't press - and she'd just been wandering around since, stealing small snacks from convenience stores to get by. Lately she'd been having a bad run of luck with convenience stores having better security, so she'd decided to take a chance and break into a seemingly-empty motel room and scrounge for food, which was what Darcy had found her doing.

The story had obviously tugged at Jane's heartstrings, not to mention what they were doing to Darcy's, and even Vanessa seemed sympathetic, which was how Kitty came to be pretty much ordered to stay the night.

Thank goodness that they still had Erik's old sleeping bag.

* * *

It turned out the Kitty was a whiz with electronics and could even get Jane's old, notoriously finicky laptop to work right. Darcy nearly cried when the computer crashed and Kitty was able to both resuscitate it _and_ recover all the data.

* * *

One night turned into two, then three, and before anyone knew it a week had passed and it was time for them to pack up the equipment and move on.

The entire time Darcy and Vanessa organized data and Jane packed up the pieces of equipment she'd moved into the room Kitty had fidgeted, an upset look on her face as she chewed on her lip. The teenager was wearing one of Darcy's old shirts (it had shrunk in the wash and rather than throw it away she'd given it to Kitty, since Thor knew the younger girl needed it) and a pair of Jane's pants with a hole in one knee. Several times she opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it before making a sound, and Darcy was starting to get worried.

Surprisingly it was Vanessa who approached Kitty about it, if by 'approach' you meant walking right up to her and saying, "Quit fidgeting, girl, and start helping us pack. The sooner we get everything loaded the sooner the four of us can move on."

"Four?" Kitty frowned, her eyes moving over Jane, Darcy, and Vanessa, obviously coming up one person short before it hit her. "Wait, you mean I'm coming with you?" Her light brown eyes were starting to light up with hope, and Darcy had to quickly turn her attention to the papers she was shuffling before she gave into the urge to hug her.

Vanessa rolled her eyes, her tone conveying the perfect 'duh' as she replied, " _Of course_ you're coming with us, who else is going to work that old computer that Jane insists on keeping the important data on and that crashes at least once a week?"

The teenager actually squealed and hugged the older woman before running over to hug Darcy and then Jane, who just blinked in bemusement.

* * *

It was only after Jane got an offer to consult at Tromso, turned it down, and then SHIELD showed up to _strongly_ recommend she reconsider that they found out about Kitty's power.

They were pretty much stranded in the middle of nowhere and Darcy had wrapped herself in a cocoon of blankets when Vanessa muttered, "Something's going on, something they don't want us to know." And man if that didn't hit the nail on the head. There wasn't even a freaking T.V at the facility, and even Jane found it suspicious that the computers only connected to a database and not the internet.

Kitty had tried to get around the computer blockade, but had finally given up after five days of frustration, "There's literally no connection to the internet; it's a completely isolated network! Whatever's happening, they definitely don't want us getting news about it," she'd said, scowling as she glared out one of the windows at one of the SHIELD guards.

Their suspicions were proved right when, three days later, the jack-booted thugs keeping them company began to get agitated, muttering to each other, growing tense and casting furtive glances at Jane and to a lesser extent Darcy. The straw that broke the camel's back, however, was when one of the guards _sneered_ at Darcy when she'd asked what was going on and snapped that it was none of her business.

It was barely twenty minutes after that that Kitty stood up and declared angrily, "Forget this, those lousy thugs aren't going to keep us here without an explanation!" and then proceeded to walk _through_ the door, leaving the other three women in the room blinking in shock.

Kitty returned with the keys to one of the facility jeeps and a StarkPhone, the latter of which she used to log onto the internet and answer their questions about what was happening that they weren't being told about.

Apparently aliens were destroying New York and SHIELD was a bunch of dicks who didn't want to tell Jane that Thor was back. The astrophysicist promptly got very, very pissed off as she snapped orders, "Grab everything essential and screw the rest, we're getting out of here. Kitty, can you make other people pass through doors too?"

The teenager paled as she realized what she'd done in full view of the others, but recovered quickly when a glance around showed that no one seemed to be freaking out. "Um, yeah, as long we move fast, and it tires me out a lot if I try to do it too often," she said slowly, frowning in thought as she automatically began gathering up the datasheets on the desk next to her, Darcy and Vanessa doing much the same thing.

Jane nodded sharply, "Good, if they try to stop us from leaving that will be a trump card. For now though, download all the data we've gathered from those computers and make sure there's not a trace left. Like hell we're going to let those SHIELD dicks have access to my research after this!" They all jumped into action like someone had hit the fast forward button on a remote - Jane's tone of voice was sending warning alarms through them and they didn't want to be the ones to push Jane over the edge.

* * *

Fortunately enough for their escape, the jack-booted thugs were too distracted by what was happening in New York to pay attention to the four women they were supposed to be guarding and they were able to practically waltz out of there, no powers needed. They also stole the largest van they could find to transport the equipment, but did it really count as stealing when Kitty got them the keys?

They unanimously decided that no, it didn't count as stealing, not after all the trouble SHIELD had put them through. Kitty had also left the thugs a nasty computer virus for their trouble when they inevitably tried to recover some data from the network.

After spending half the drive to the nearest city with an airport in stony silence, Kitty cracked, blurting out, "Okay, so, um, I have this power that lets me go intangible and pass through solid objects. Doesn't have to be doors, I can go through walls, floors, just about anything. I ran away because my parents didn't want to have to deal with having a freak for a daughter, and I heard them talking about sending me away to some boarding school." She had said all of that with hardly a pause for breath, so she was panting slightly by the end.

Darcy was driving, so she was unable to look back at Kitty for too long, but Jane was in the back with the teenager and promptly made Darcy wonder if she was telepathic when she hugged Kitty exactly how Darcy had wanted to. "Hey now, it's all fine. You're one of us now, so you don't have to go anywhere," the tiny scientist soothed as Kitty let out a few sniffles, but amazingly didn't cry.

In the front seat and after exchanging a glance with Darcy, Vanessa shrugged nonchalantly and said, "I can shape-shift."

A pause.

"That's really cool."


	3. A woman's best friend

_Author's Note: Okay, cross my fingers and hope I write this one in-character..._

* * *

 _III. Emma Frost aka The White Queen_

* * *

A month after arriving in London and moving in with Jane's mom, Darcy found her third stray in the form of Emma Frost.

She was walking back from picking up coffee and doughnuts - and really, she was starting to think that her coffee runs were cursed - when she noticed a form curled up near the curb, dressed in what had once been a pristine white blouse, but which was now a muddy brown color, and jeans. A closer look revealed that it was a blonde, light blue-eyed and pale-skinned woman, one that had clearly fallen on hard times, and recently too, judging by the shamed slump to her posture.

There was a small plastic cup half-filled with coins near the woman's foot, and as she walked by Darcy pulled out her one pound forty-six change from buying the doughnuts and dropped it into the cup. The woman obviously needed it more than she did.

Because she hadn't paused in walking, she missed the surprised look like crossed the blonde's dirt-smudged face after she'd dropped the coins.

* * *

It became a sort of routine after that, because now that Darcy was looking she saw that the homeless woman had basically set up camp on the curb near Jane's mom's house.

Every time Darcy walked passed her, the intern would drop some change into the ever-present cup. A month later, that graduated to telling the blonde hello when she walked by and buying an extra coffee to give to her. Two weeks after that, when she mentioned the blonde to Kitty, the younger girl had suggested giving her a sandwich too, so that was exactly what Darcy did. The moment she presented that first sandwich and cup of coffee to the other woman was also the moment that she learned the blonde's name: Emma.

They started talking after that, Darcy taking an hour each day for lunch and to go check on Emma and see how she was doing. They didn't really talk about important stuff, just whatever came to mind, what kind of books they liked, favorite movies, etc. Emma apparently had a secret weakness for historical romance and sci-fi movies, and they spent almost the entire hour Darcy had for lunch debating over which sci-fi movies was the best. Darcy voted for the first Alien movie, while Emma staunchly asserted that Star Wars was the greatest.

Emma was surprisingly educated and well-read, speaking eloquently and presenting thought out arguments for her point of view on various things. Even though she'd fallen on hard times, her graceful mannerisms shone through when she spoke or gestured. She also liked bologna and cheese sandwiches and chamomile tea, but took her coffee with lots of cream and milk. She had a strange fondness for the color white, Darcy found, but shrugged it off as just a favorite color sort of thing.

Eventually Darcy decided what the heck and started making a bit extra of whatever they were having for lunch to give to Emma. Jane just looked at her like she was the cutest thing she'd ever seen, Vanessa shook her head in exasperation and fondness, and Kitty praised her for helping someone less fortunate. Darcy thought it was the right thing to do, so she did it, and she didn't think it was hurting anyone.

Later, much later, Darcy would look back on the progression of her interaction with Emma and realize that it had been a lot like getting a stray cat used to you so you could pet it.

Jane would laugh at her for not realizing that sooner.

* * *

It was approaching December and the rain that fell almost constantly in London was turning icy when Darcy marched up to where Emma was huddled under an apartment overhang, an umbrella keeping her somewhat dry, and told the blonde woman bluntly, "Come on, get up, you're coming inside with me."

The other woman blinked, obviously surprised, and murmured, "What...?"

Darcy repeated, "I'm not letting you stay out here in this weather one minute longer, so up you come!" She gently grabbed Emma's arm and pulled the blonde to her feet, steadying her when she staggered.

"Why would-" Emma tried to ask, only to be cut off by a large sneeze.

Darcy raised her eyebrows, her expression saying plainly 'that's why', and Emma had the grace to look sheepish. The woman's pale skin was flushed slightly red, and Darcy was really hoping that she didn't have a fever, as those always sucked.

Now that the other woman was standing, Darcy was surprised to notice that Emma was taller than her, even if only by a few inches, and had boobs that rivaled her own. She couldn't really tell whose were bigger, but she made a mental note to ask Emma's measurements when the other woman was dried off and warmed up.

As she helped Emma descend the stairs, Darcy picked up the ever-present plastic cup of change and took it with them as she guided the other woman to Jane's mom's house.

* * *

Emma's minor cold (Darcy knew it!) went by quickly, with thankfully none of the nastier symptoms, and yet even after she recovered the blonde couldn't seem to bring herself to leave the warm atmosphere of the house.

It was crowded, noisy, there was a race to the bathroom every morning to get the first shower, and Emma and Vanessa got into fights practically every other hour, but as any of Darcy's three strays would tell you, it just felt like home. There was happiness and laughter in the air, sometimes they had spontaneous dance parties where they hopped and bopped without caring that they all looked like idiots, and Darcy cooked up a feast every night. Every day was something different and completely, utterly brilliant.

The newest addition to Darcy's strays proved herself an able hand at reminding Jane to eat and somehow being able to understand her Science! babbling. She was also able to drive on the correct side of the road in London, which was a skill Darcy sadly lacked and neither Vanessa or Kitty had bothered to learn. It was also nice having another pair of hands around when Jane got the idea to drive around the city and take readings, or go investigate what she thought were anomalies in the readings she got.

Also, Emma made a great getaway driver for when those supposed anomalies _weren't_ on publically accessible property.

It was only a year after Emma joined them and Darcy began tentatively trying to get back into the dating scene and met Ian the possible intern at an internet cafe that they found out that Emma could read minds.

This was revealed after Jane had interviews/interrogated Ian about his intentions towards Darcy and confessed after he'd left that she thought he was charming. Darcy had really thought he had potential, even if he was a Londoner. Kitty had seemed like she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt, Vanessa had kept quiet, but Emma spoke up, "Don't hire him. He works for SHIELD."

A long moment of silence, and Jane had asked quietly, "How do you know that he works for SHIELD?" Her tone was even, polite almost, and all of them knew that that was when she was most dangerous.

Emma hesitated, swallowing nervously before holding her head up high and saying, "I know because I read his mind. He was sent here to get close to you through Darcy and copy all of your research." Her face was as smooth as though made out of ice and completely self-contained. Whatever their reaction was to her announcement, she was ready for it...or at least she thought she was.

Kitty broke the silence first, "Neat! I can walk through walls." The youngest of them was smiling and bouncing on her feet, hands clasped loosely behind her back.

Next up was Vanessa, who said shortly, "Shape-shifting. That's what I can do."

Darcy shrugged and said to no one in particular, "I'm not even surprised anymore, I'm really not." She sighed, but then smiled at Emma and said, "I don't have any powers and neither does Jane. We're just naturally awesome." That was when she noticed the knowing look Vanessa was giving Emma and her eyes narrowed as she said slowly, "Wait, is this why you two are always fighting? You knew Emma had an ability, Vanessa?"

The brunette in question shrugged, "I suspected."

Suddenly a lot of things made sense and a great many of Vanessa and Emma's arguments were thrown into sharp perspective; especially the veiled barbs Vanessa had been sending at Emma about 'hiding things' and 'a woman has to have _some_ secrets'. Darcy felt like an idiot for not noticing sooner, and from the looks on their faces so did Jane and Kitty.

"Have you been reading our minds a lot?" Kitty asked tentatively, her face already turning red in preemptive embarrassment.

"No! I haven't read any of your minds since I came here!" Emma swiftly denied, frowning defensively as she added, "I haven't used my powers since Darcy began talking to me, I swear." She tensed as though expecting an attack, and that set off all of Darcy's maternal alarms. The intern was next to the blonde and hugging the woman before she could blink, and after some tense moments Emma hugged her back, both letting go before things could get awkward.

Vanessa and Kitty both relaxed further at Emma's assurances, and the two of them shared a smile as they watched Darcy and Emma hug.

It was Jane, surprisingly, who brought them back to the original topic, "Okay then, so we tell Ian to take a hike and sweep for bugs, because I don't trust SHIELD as far as I can throw them, and then work on figuring out who sleeps where now that Emma's staying for sure."

"Sounds like a good idea," the four other women chorused, Emma's smile a little watery.

This turned out to be a better idea than they'd thought, as Jane's printer had been bugged to copy everything it printed to a SHIELD fax machine. Jane was on the warpath for the rest of the week after that particular discovery, and Ian had to report to his SHIELD superiors that he had no idea why he wasn't hired.

As it turned out, there was some good news as they discovered that if Kitty passed through anything electronic it shorted out, if not outright overloaded.

And so Darcy's collection of strays increased by one.


	4. Animal I have Become

_Author's Note: A bit of something different for this chapter! Canon Sabertooth is six foot six, and while Liev Schreiber isn't quite that tall, aside from that minor change his version is the one I'm going with._

* * *

 _IV. Victor Creed aka Sabertooth_

* * *

They found Victor Creed during the Convergence in London.

Darcy and Kitty had just finished driving the final spike into the ground when the wall next to them broke apart, a consequence of the large form tossed through it.

Both women shrieked as dust showered them, Darcy narrowly avoiding getting hit by a falling brick, then again when a dark elf stepped through the new hole in the wall and took aim at them. Kitty grabbed Darcy's hand and quickly turned them intangible, the red bolt of energy passing through them harmlessly, and the elf's moment of surprise was all the time the feral-looking man half-buried under rubble needed to dig himself out, stand up, and break the pale elf's neck.

The body slumped to the ground, more elves came through the hole in the wall, and the situation quickly degenerated into mayhem as the guy swiped at the elves with claws - _claws_ \- and continued standing even after getting hit with three of the red death-beams.

Kitty pulled Darcy over to crouch behind a crushed car, keeping them intangible the entire way which probably saved their lives, as they watched the ensuing fight between Mr. Feral and the dark elves. A fight that the large man in the long black duster was doing a good job of winning, at least right then.

It would be too risky to make a break for it, and another reason to stick around was to make sure that the battle didn't get too close to the planet-saving spike in the ground. That was the excuse that Darcy was going with, and Kitty just had a resigned expression on her face as she stuck close to Darcy, ready to phase at a moment's notice. Judging by the way her eyes were flickering, Darcy would bet money that Kitty was also telling Emma what was going on, the telepath being on the other side of the grounds guarding another of Erik's spikes.

A good thing that had come out of finding out about Emma's power was that even when they were separated they could still keep in contact through the telepath, as long as they gave her permission beforehand.

The last of the elf soldiers fell beneath the mystery man's claws, and he turned and stared unerringly at Kitty and Darcy's hiding place. He had barely taken a step towards them, however, when reality chose right then to go topsy-turvy, gravity take a break around certain parts of the courtyard, and portals opened up in the sky. That last thing was enough to grab feral guy's attention, and all three of them watched the portals as Erik's science-spikes activated.

Time seemed to fly and before Darcy knew it the portals in the sky closed, reality righted itself, and gravity chose then to return to work and drop a scooter right on top of feral guy's head. There was a loud ' _crack_ ' as the scooter impacted his skull, and feral guy dropped like a rock, blood pouring from the back of his head.

The two women cringed in unison, because _ouch_ , that had to hurt, and Darcy darted out from her hiding place to check on the guy. Scary or not, he had kind of saved their asses, and that at least warranted them taking him to a hospital for a head injury.

Darcy was surprised to see the injury almost completely healed by the time she got to where the man had fallen, and she watched in silence for a few seconds as the skin knitted back together.

Apparently feral guy had powers too. So what, she could deal with that. What she couldn't do was just leave him laying in the middle of Greenwich after he'd saved her and Kitty. Unfortunately he was six foot six and seriously packed with muscle, so there was no way that Darcy and Kitty, even if they worked together, would be able to lift him.

Then Thor showed up with Jane and the others and though confused was more than willing to carry feral guy back to Jane's mom's house. Seriously, the Asgardian lifted the guy over his shoulder as easily as you'd toss a towel after a shower. Darcy spent two minutes being jealous before shrugging it off and making sure that everyone was alright which, aside from some bumps and bruises, they were.

Darcy thanked whoever that Jane's mom's house was still intact when they got there.

* * *

It was a good thing that Kitty insisted on being there with Darcy every time she checked on feral guy, because the first thing he did when he woke up was try to kill her and only Kitty phasing her had saved her from some nasty slices to the neck.

To be fair though, it wasn't entirely feral guy's fault; he'd been out for a grand total of thirty minutes and woken up just as Darcy was reaching towards his head to check on his injury, so she could definitely see where the misunderstanding came from. That explanation didn't stop Kitty from being pissed off or Thor from knocking him unconscious via hammer.

Turns out Mew-Mew worked on feral guys with sharp claws. That was good to know.

Well things were off to a good start, Darcy mentally sighed. Vanessa, Kitty, and Emma were now all collectively pissed at the unconscious guy, Jane wasn't so sure about leaving him alone in the guestroom (that Darcy and Vanessa had previously been sharing), and Thor thought he looked like a worthy opponent. Coming from a Viking god, that last one was actually a good thing...she hoped.

The second time feral guy woke up went a lot better than the first time - for one thing Darcy wasn't anywhere near him, and for another all he did was sit up and look around instead of instantly attacking. His dark eyes were intently focused, like a predator looking for prey, and Darcy took a moment to appreciate the image accordingly before piping up, "Hey, feral guy, glad you're okay and apparently suffering no ill effects from either the scooter or Thor's hammer to the head." She pointed to the corner where she'd put his boots and coat and told him, "Your stuff is over there, shower's through that door over there, and please don't try to kill anyone on your way out," _and Thor won't have to knock you out again_ , she silently added.

Feral guy blinked (and Darcy tried not to think about how he was kind of hot when he wasn't murder-y) and then wordlessly grunted before swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up. No sign of dizziness or anything, and wow, feral guy's powers must have been pretty damn good if they healed him up that fast. Darcy was suitably impressed.

Eleven minutes later, Darcy was in the kitchen putting the final touches on a veritable mountain of eggs and bacon with some sausage thrown in for good measure when feral guy came down the stairs, hair damp from the shower. He paused when he saw the food, one eyebrow raising, and Darcy happily explained, "For you, feral guy. I figure whatever it is that lets you heal so fast must make you hungry, so consider this a thanks for killing those elves earlier. Dig in!" She set a fully loaded plate - complete with fork - on the kitchen table with a flourish, and feral guy sniffed the air a couple times before wandering over.

Darcy was really glad she'd sent Jane and the girls out for groceries and that Thor had gone with them before feral guy came downstairs as she witnessed him tear into his food. It was both terrifying and impressive, and she was somehow reminded of how Thor had eaten before Jane had socialized him. Yup, this was just as awe-inspiring to witness as that had been.

When he finished what was on his plate, she dished up some more. It seemed like the right thing to do, and she knew it was when he muttered something under his breath before demolishing the bacon and sausages. She turned back to the stove to hide her grin.

So feral guy's name was Victor Creed. Good to know.

* * *

Feral guy - _Victor Creed_ \- made himself scarce after eating all the food Darcy had prepared, jumping out a window barely four minutes before everyone else got home, leaving Darcy to clean up the mess in the kitchen and explain where their houseguest had gone.

Thor and Jane didn't really care, not giving much thought to the guy who'd been responsible for them going shopping in the first place (although Darcy had spotted the boxes of pop-tarts and shared a knowing look with Vanessa and Emma), but the other ladies were more wary. Kitty because Creed had nearly sliced Darcy's throat, and Vanessa and Emma because they'd each been around the block and knew better than to immediately dismiss a man like Creed.

Darcy tried to reassure them that Victor was gone and they'd probably never see each other again, and was promptly made a liar two days later when she was fixing breakfast (hash-browns and biscuits because she was feeling nostalgic), turned around to get something out of a cabinet, and then turned back to see Victor sitting at the table. She hadn't even heard him enter the house.

There was a tense moment where they both just stared at each other, the silence only broken by the sounds of Thor moving about in the basement where Jane had her bed set up, and then Darcy handed Victor a plate of just-cooked hash-browns, cautioning, "Careful, they're hot."

Victor snorted like she'd said something funny, and thinking about it, she probably had. What did a guy with his healing ability care about a little hot food? Probably a big fat nothing, Darcy decided.

Then Kitty phased through the wall between her room and the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and blinking, saw Victor, and promptly screamed.

The kitchen suddenly got a _lot_ more crowded as everyone came running.

* * *

It took almost an entire hour before everyone calmed down, during which time it was discovered that Emma had been holding out on them in the powers department after she stepped protectively in front of Darcy and Jane.

("They really are a woman's best friend," Emma shrugged gracefully, which shouldn't have been possible given what she was now made of.

"I'll say," Kitty breathed, seemingly mesmerized by the light glittering off the other woman's diamond form.)

Finally Darcy managed to get everyone calm enough that it didn't look like the smallest noise would make them bolt, especially Victor, oddly enough, and the tensest breakfast that Darcy had ever been a part of took place in stony silence. Victor matched Thor plate for plate, leaving the women to race to grab whatever food they could before the men ate it, and after the meal was done Victor vanished out the window again.

That was how things went for almost a month; Victor would show up for breakfast (and dinner, whenever Darcy made her special beef casserole) and then leave without saying a word. Jane, Thor, and the girls only knew his name because Darcy told them.

One month later on the dot, however, Thor caught Victor before he could leave - through the window, no matter how much Darcy tried to let him know that it was okay to use the door - and exchanged a few words with him. Their voices were too low for anyone to hear, but the women were all burning with curiosity as they watched the two men leave, through the door this time, thankfully, and why had Thor grabbed Mew-Mew? Darcy was suspicious now.

But then Jane had a Science! epiphany and she was forced to turn her attention to making sure that the astrophysicist didn't blow anything up.

Three hours later, Thor and Victor returned looking only slightly worse for wear, to everyone's surprise. Thor had a bruise on his chin and some scratches on his arms, and Victor was limping slightly as he came through the door. The limp disappeared halfway between the door and the dining table, so whatever injury it was probably hadn't been that bad. She hoped.

After a minute of staring, Jane asked no one in particular, "Do we even want to know what you guys were doing, and if someone is going to be showing up and questioning us about mysteriously appearing thunderstorms?"

Thor laughed, "Fear not, Lady Jane, 'tis nothing to be concerned about! The Sabertooth and I merely exchanged some words and enjoyed a light spar." He assured them, smiling brightly and making Darcy think that if he'd been a dog his tail would have been wagging a mile a minute. One thing was for sure, she definitely wasn't imagining the look of respect Victor shot the god of thunder, but since both of them were fine it was nothing to be worried about...she did have one question though.

"Sabertooth?" the intern wondered out loud, drawing Vanessa and Emma's attention.

Victor just muttered something about the army and someone named Jimmy.

* * *

Three months later, during which Victor had been more or less camped out in the backyard, Darcy finally convinced Jane to take the contract with Stark Industries. The terms were more than generous, she argued, and they would get to live in the famous Stark Tower (or as some on the internet had taken to calling it, Avengers Tower), not to mention the lab space and access to all sorts of equipment.

Jane gave in after Kitty voiced her desire to move back to the States and Thor mentioned seeing his shield brothers again, so Darcy counted that as a win.

Darcy went out back to tell Victor the big news and was greeted by the sight of the large man folding the blankets she'd practically forced on him, ignoring his protests about not feeling the cold. She frowned at the blank look on his face, planting her hands on her hips as she demanded, "And just _what_ do you think you're doing, mister?"

Victor shot her a semi-amused look as he replied, putting his folding aside and moving on to packing, "Getting ready to head out, sweetheart. It was nice knowing ya, but you'll be moving on now."

It was the longest speech she'd ever heard him make, and it startled her for a moment. But then Darcy blinked, things clicking into place, and she slapped a hand to her forehead as she complained to the sky, "Oh come on! I went through this with Vanessa and Kitty, and now you too?!" She lowered her hand and gave Victor the full force of her exasperated look as she said, "You're coming with us, Kit Kat, if I have anything to say about it!"

"Kit Kat?" the feral looked amused, lips twitching up into a fang-baring grin, as they always did whenever Darcy came up with a new nickname for him. Then the rest of what she'd said seemed to sink in, and his gaze grew intent as he looked at the busty woman. "You sure you want me taggin' along, sweetheart? Not exactly the safest guy around." And wasn't that the truth, despite him apologizing months ago for nearly killing her that one time. Kitty had then apologized for screaming that one time she saw him, and Darcy had thought they had gotten over that incident.

 _Apparently not_ , she realized, and sighed before saying logically, "Neither is Thor, considering how strong he is in addition to Mew-Mew, and Emma can literally get inside people's heads. Kitty could also do some major damage with her powers, and Vanessa used to date a mercenary who taught her some tricks. None of them really qualify as 'safe', but what the hell, if Jane and I are okay with them, we're sure as hell okay with you coming with us. Not to mention Thor would be sad if we left his training buddy behind." She shot Victor a knowing look, the feral suddenly very interested in something off to the side.

The two of them really thought no one knew about their training sessions? Oh please, none of them were that stupid. And Jane had confessed that Thor 'very much enjoyed their bouts', to quote the god himself.

"So how about it, big guy? You up for a trip to the Big Apple?" Darcy asked, smiling as Victor looked back at her, another of those fang-baring grins crossing his face.

"Hmph, someone's gotta keep you frails from getting into trouble." Victor said simply, and really, that was all he needed to say as he grabbed his dufflebag of belongings and followed Darcy back into the house to help the ladies pack.

They had a lot of work to do before they could leave.


	5. Does whatever a Spider can

_Author's Note: Fifth chapter here! After this it's the bonus chapter, so here's to hoping I don't stuff this up. :D_

* * *

 _V. Peter Parker aka Spiderman_

* * *

Really, all things considered, Darcy really should have seen this coming, she realized with a sigh as she stared down at the unconscious superhero at her feet.

All she'd wanted to do was go out, get the stuff to make pancakes to celebrate the gang's move into Avengers Tower, but noooo, she wound up walking into the middle of a convenience store robbery instead! That was what she got for being thrifty, Darcy decided, and damn that convenience store for having such great prices! She should have just had Jarvis order the stuff, but because she wanted to make the first breakfast special she wound up walking into a robbery-in-progress.

Emma was _never_ going to let her live that down when she found out, she really wasn't. And then she'd tell everyone else, which was a whole other kettle of smelly embarrassing fish.

Anyway, robbery-in-progress; it was actually pretty professional as far as robberies went. Two guys with guns, one guy covering the customers, the other telling the cashier to put the money in the bag, and Darcy walking in and promptly being ordered to stand with the other hostages. She'd gone calmly and quietly, trying to figure out a way to get to the shiny new panic button she'd been given just the day before by Tony Freakin' Stark (totally his middle name, according to half the internet and the man himself).

Turns out she didn't need to, because scarcely a minute later a blur of red and blue spandex dropped down from the ceiling, punched out the guy pointing a gun at the hostages, and then turned on the robber holding the money. That's when things started to go wrong - the robber stepped back as Spiderman (of course she knew who he was, she had access to the internet and a T.V.) approached, the gun went off, several of the hostages screamed, and everything kind of blurred. When things came back into focus, the gun was webbed to the wall, the robber was knocked out, and Spiderman was nowhere to be seen.

Since she hadn't wanted to stick around to be questioned, Darcy had quietly left the store while everyone else tried to calm down. Her own heart was pounding a bit, but that was normal. What ticked her off was that she hadn't even gotten what she'd come to the store to get, and right then all she wanted was to chow down on her emergency pint of Ben & Jerry's chocolate-chip cookie dough ice cream.

Fate or coincidence just _had_ to be a jerk and make other plans, however.

When she walked passed an alley no more than two blocks from the Tower, she heard a muffled groan, and her curiosity and nurturing nature took over from there. She kept a hand on the taser in the pocket the entire way down to the source of the noise. Just because she had a weakness for people needing help didn't mean she had to be stupid, after all.

The person who groaned turned out to be Spiderman. Of course it did, she thought with a sigh as she scanned his body and noted that he was holding a hand pressed tightly against his side. Apparently the gunshot had hit something, and that something had turned out to be the webbed wonder himself. Which really had to suck, she thought sympathetically, taking a hand off her taser and crouching down next to the hero.

It looked like he was unconscious. Awesome. Note the sarcasm on that last bit.

And that was how Darcy wound up calling Victor to bring a car and help her load a knocked out, injured superhero into it to bring him back to the Tower.

What? It was the only thing she could think of at the time! She could hardly carry him herself!

* * *

"Okay, before you do anything, just know that the only other option was leaving you to bleed out in a dirty alley."

That was the first thing Darcy said when her patient/guest opened his eyes, blinking in clear confusion as he looked around the spare room on Darcy's floor (she didn't think it would be good for him to wake up in the infirmary, and Doctor Banner had agreed). She was rather proud of it, considering just a day ago it had been completely empty and now it sported a nice bed, dresser, and some bookcases. Although judging from the hunted expression on his face, he wasn't admiring the decor.

The intern stayed tense, standing by the door in case she needed to make a quick getaway, waiting for Spiderman to notice something rather important to every superhero.

She saw the moment he realized he wasn't wearing his mask, as both his hands flew up to touch his face, and his follow-up assessment revealed that he wasn't wearing the rest of his costume either (he did, however, still have on his boxers). She hadn't removed it herself, but Banner had, and she blushed just thinking about it. Spiderman wasn't bad-looking, far from it actually, but what really stuck with Darcy was how _young_ he looked. Soft, fluffy-looking brown hair, light brown eyes, and a face softened by youth that promised to be gorgeous in a few years. He looked like he was barely out of high school and wow, Darcy felt guilty for admiring how ripped he was. She felt like a dirty old woman now.

But enough about her misbehaving libido, she thought, turning her attention back to reality and noticing that Spidey looked like he was seriously freaking out, trying to both scramble away from her and untangle his legs from the blankets. He didn't really succeed at either one of those things, but the panic clear on his face made Darcy lift her hands up in the classic 'look, I'm unarmed!' pose as she said gently, "Hey now, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you, really!"

Spidey shot her a look that clearly said, 'not what I'm worrying about, lady' and Darcy felt a little stupid as she added belatedly, "And I didn't go looking up who you were, definitely not!" _although Jarvis might have_ , she silently added.

The spider-powered hero did not look reassured, and he sharply retorted, "Forgive me if I don't believe you, lady. What do you want to keep quiet? I won't hurt anyone, no matter what you have on me." He had an angry yet resigned look on his face, which Darcy found personally insulting because she would never do anything like he was obviously thinking she would!

She scowled at him, planting her hands on her hips as she shot back, "I _told_ you, kid! I'm not going to hurt you, and I didn't look up who you are! I really did just find you passed out in an alley after getting shot in that convenience store, and I didn't want you to die so I called a friend to help me get you back here so a doctor I know could treat you." She kind of lost steam towards the end of her rant as she noticed how scared and defensive his body language was - it was practically screaming _terrified_. Now she felt guilty, because of course he would be afraid that anyone who knew his secret identity, or even just his face, would use that against him, doubly so if he had friends and family to protect.

That seemed to remind Spidey of how he had come to be waking up in some strange person's room in the first place. He looked at her suspiciously before carefully examining the bandage wrapped around his torso as Darcy continued, "In case you were wondering, the only people who've seen you without the mask are me and Dr. Banner, and he's cool." it had actually been Bruce's (and how cool was that? She was on a first name basis with the Incredible Hulk!) suggestion to take off Spidey's mask so that he could breathe easier while unconscious, but it seemed like the wrong time to mention that.

Darcy couldn't really blame Spidey for being upset, but they had only wanted to help! It might be tough to get him to understand that though, she acknowledged and felt her heart ache at the lost, frightened look that Spidey likely didn't know was on his face. It was vulnerability, pure and simple, and she tactfully didn't do anything to draw attention to it.

And Jane said she wasn't good at reading the atmosphere.

Spidey took several deep breaths, his shoulders tense as he looked back at her, and in an abrupt change of subject asked, "Where am I?" Apparently he was choosing to ignore the whole secret-identity-somewhat-known thing for the moment, and Darcy was totally okay with changing the subject. It gave the kid some time to calm down, at least.

"Avengers Tower, though Tony still tries to tell people that it's 'Stark Tower' when they bring it up," Darcy said cheerfully, and was promptly treated to the sight of Spiderman gaping in shock as he looked around, and then let his gaze land on the window. Soundlessly taking in the view, Spidey swallowed nervously.

"Alright then," he breathed out, his expression now a bizarre mix of shock, fear, and hero worship, because hey, who doesn't love the Avengers? Darcy would totally bet that Spidey was a Cap fan. Everyone loved Captain America.

Darcy grinned as she said, "Yup! You are currently recovering in one of the rooms of Avengers Tower, a room that is on my floor, might I add, so just lay back and enjoy the experience while I go get you something to eat." She turned to exit the room and head towards the kitchen, pausing in the doorway to toss back, "And Jarvis has all the windows locked and electrified, so don't even think about jumping out of one to run away while I get the food."

Spidey had the grace to looked ashamed of himself.

* * *

Since keeping Spiderman in the Tower indefinitely was neither practical nor conductive to the kid trusting her not to reveal his identity, as soon as Bruce gave him the all clear she cheerfully waved goodbye as he jumped out the window.

Once he'd loosened up a little Spidey had actually been a pretty nice guy, not to mention funny, and she'd seriously called it on the Spidey being a fan of Steve thing. She'd thought he'd have a fit the one time Steve had knocked on the door to let her know that Emma and Vanessa were arguing over the T.V again and that Victor had made popcorn. She was pretty sure the kid had squeaked before clamping his mouth shut, and she cherished the memory of his face when he'd said hello to Cap when he poked his head in the door.

Darcy could have sworn she'd seen _stars_ in Spidey's eyes at seeing the national icon.

* * *

The second time Darcy ran into Spiderman actually went a lot like the first time, except with more shouting.

"Seriously, are you just predisposed to getting shot?!" Darcy demanded, scowling down at the wincing Spiderman as the hero tried to staunch the blood seeping from the wound in his shoulder.

"It's not like I could just let that guy shoot you, lady," Spidey retorted, sounding a bit short on breath as he put pressure on the entry wound. The bullet hadn't passed through his body, so Darcy was understandably concerned as she stood guard. They were once again in an alleyway, though this one was marginally cleaner than the first one, and Spidey had once more saved the day, this time from a maniac with an AK-47 trying to rob a bank. Darcy had just been there to make a withdrawal, and now she was pissed off and still short on money.

Still, when the maniac had tried to shoot her, Spidey had taken the bullet and then punched the guy out, breaking his nose in the process, before fleeing the scene. Darcy had followed, because what else could she do? Now she was alternatively chewing out the hero and glancing periodically towards the mouth of the alley, waiting impatiently for Bruce to get there.

"You know, if you wanted to come back to the Tower, you really didn't need to get yourself shot to get an invitation," she complained, "I would have invited you to the next movie night if you'd asked, and Bruce and Tony would love to talk Science! with you."

Spidey perked up at the mention of Bruce and Tony, then paused before asking, "Wait, you guys have movie nights?"

"Yep, Tony has an awesome entertainment system, and access to pretty much every movie ever made." Darcy answered distractedly, attention drawn by the sound of running footsteps.

Before Spidey could answer, Bruce came skidding into view, holding his medical bag and with Steve close behind him.

Oh yeah, those were _definitely_ stars in Spidey's eyes. She totally called it, and Kitty owed her thirty bucks. She'd bet that Tony would have been Spidey's favorite.

* * *

The third time it was a stabbing. Darcy lectured Spidey for almost ten minutes as Bruce stitched him up.

The fourth time it was for broken ribs where a thug managed to get in a lucky shot with a baseball bat.

They both agreed never to speak of the fifth time _ever again_ , and really, what was with some of these villains? That guy had _disco music_. Some things had no place in a battle.

When Darcy wound up dragging Spiderman to the Tower for medical treatment for the _sixth_ time, however, she put her foot down.

"That is it, mister! If you can't keep yourself in one piece on your own, then we'll have to do it for you!" Darcy snapped, glaring at the uncomfortable-looking Spiderman sitting on her couch while Bruce set his broken leg.

"Um, 'we'?" Spidey asked surprisingly meekly, his mask off (Darcy and Bruce were the only ones in the room, and he figured since they already knew what he looked like...) and his face doing an impression of a kicked puppy. Darcy was not swayed.

"Yes, 'we'! We as in the Avengers!" Darcy said triumphantly, getting a sort of vindictive pleasure from the shock on Spidey's face and a warm glow when she saw the small smile on Bruce's. "Congratulations, Spidey-me-man, you are now an official member of the Avengers, which means you get your own room in the Tower and Avengers communicator so we can get in touch with you. That also means that you get to go on Avengers' missions, and when you get into a fight you will have reliable back-up!" she gracious explained to the gaping Spidey, "Hopefully now you'll be able to cut back on the injuries, buster, because Tony is not happy when one of his Science Bros goes out of commission."

And yeah, Darcy had called that one. Tony absolutely loved Spidey, who could actually understand a lot of his technical talk.

Spiderman blinked rapidly, managing to close his mouth through great force of will, and then choked out, "Seriously? I'm an Avenger? Just like that?"

This time it was Bruce who spoke as he sat back from tending to Spidey's leg, "Just like that, kiddo. There's some other stuff that Pepper and Tony want to talk to you about, namely security clearance and such that Darcy glossed over, but other than that you're in." He patted Spidey's uninjured leg and stood up. "Welcome to the team, Spiderman."

Right before Bruce made it to the door, Spidey said, eyes suspiciously shiny, "My name's Peter. Peter Parker."

Darcy and Bruce shared a smile at how choked up Spide - Peter sounded, and Darcy rushed off to make some food for the kid, because when she got the warm fuzzies she also got the urge to cook (which Victor had figured out and shamelessly abused by showing her kitten videos on YouTube).

* * *

Peter's first meeting with the Avengers went great, if 'great' meant 'Peter was fangasming so hard he could barely speak and when he did he sounded like he was going through puberty'. Poor kid was so embarrassed he hid from them for a week, vanishing to his aunt's house instead of the Tower after fighting crime.

His first meeting with the rest of Darcy's strays, as Jane called them and they didn't object to, actually went a lot better. Emma approved of him, Vanessa thought he was adorable, Victor thought he had good taste in movies (turns out they both liked the _Lethal Weapon_ series), and Kitty...well, he and Kitty bonded over computers. Darcy was a bit afraid for her ringtone, especially when Jarvis got in on the action. She made all three swear to not interfere with her electronics before she left them alone.

When Clint's phone rang in a meeting and it sounded like a gaggle of chickens, Darcy saw a prank war looming on the horizon, and thus did the smart thing and holed up with Jane.

It went on for a week until a prank caught Natasha by accident. Jane and Darcy had a moment of silence for their doomed friends.

* * *

Peter cemented his place in the Avengers to the general public (as if there was ever any doubt) when he appeared to help them deal with a Dr. Doom/Loki team-up.

The picture of Spiderman punching Loki in the face went viral, and even the Bugle couldn't spin the battle against the web-head. It was a good week, Peter announced at the celebratory dinner, and Steve patted him on the back. Somehow Peter's fanboy heart survived, but it was a close thing.

Of course, that was when Tony started talking about building Peter his own suit of armor.

Peter joined the others in trying to stop Tony, because dang it, he was there for the incident with the toaster oven!


	6. And 1 that found her

_Author's Note: Behold the final chapter! It's finally here, the one stray that found Darcy! ;) Enjoy!_

* * *

 _...And the 1 that found her._

 _VI. James Buchanan Barnes aka The Winter Soldier_

* * *

' _Stupid HYDRA! Fucking bastards don't know when to fucking quit!_ ' Darcy thought furiously, glaring daggers at the lone guard left in the room with her. Obviously they didn't think she was much of a threat and sadly they were right, what with her being tied to a chair and gagged.

Seriously, couldn't she go one week without something going wrong? All she'd been doing was eating lunch with Jane for crying out loud!

The HYDRA goons had busted down the door of the little bistro that Pepper had told her about and that she'd dragged Jane out to in order to get some real food in her, and before Darcy had had the chance to tase more than one of them she'd been hit in the head. Everything had gone black after that, but she took comfort in the knowledge that her distraction had given Jane time to escape. She'd heard the Head Goon complaining about it before they'd noticed she'd regained consciousness, accompanied by a splitting headache.

What had followed was the standard 'tell us what we want to know and you won't be harmed' pitch, complete with faux-apologetic voice as he apologized for taking such _extreme measures_. Yeah, right, and she was a ballerina. Like she was seriously going to fall for that; how stupid did they think she was? Apparently pretty dumb, because Head Goon had followed that up with a sleazy smile and reassurances that if she just told them what they wanted to know they would let her go.

Did anyone ever actually fall for that line? Because she sure as hell wasn't.

When all she'd done was give Head Goon a distinctly unimpressed look, his sleazy smile had turned into a scowl and he'd left, saying that he'd give her some time to think about their _generous_ offer. He'd taken most of the other goons with him, leaving her alone with a guy who could give the Buckingham Palace guards a run for their money as far as expressionless faces went.

He was also holding an AK-47 across his chest. That was definitely something to keep in mind while thinking up escape plans.

By the looks of it, the guard knew how to use that damned impressive gun, so for now she focused on getting herself loose and then she'd try to figure out how to disarm the guard. Luckily her arms were tied behind her back so Mr. Expressionless couldn't see what she was doing as she twisted her wrists, gauging how tightly the ropes were tied and if there was any slack she could take advantage of.

No dice, she mentally grumbled, keeping a wary eye on the guard as she took stock of what she had to work with.

Her shoes were gone, having been taken while she'd been unconscious (those jerks! Those sneakers were brand new!), along with her coat, so that just left her with her t-shirt, jeans, and her underwear. None of which were particularly helpful at the moment. She didn't even have a can of mace in her bra like some women carried, which she'd never really thought she'd regret until this very moment. Her bra was one of those old-fashioned underwire ones, which she supposed she could use if she get her hands free, which didn't look to be happening anytime soon, so moot point there, she inwardly sighed.

Whoever had tied her up had known what they were doing, that was for sure; her bonds were tight enough that she couldn't do more than wiggle her fingers around, but not so tight that they cut off circulation in her wrists, which would have definitely been a problem. Her ankles were likewise tied to the front legs of the chair, and she was well and truly stuck. Well, fuck, she thought bleakly, her mind racing as she tried to figure another way out of this mess.

She came up with exactly zilch. _Fuck_.

And then the metal door to her cell got blown off its hinges and the stunned guard (finally! A change of expression!) was promptly shot by the figure entering the room.

Well, it wasn't like Darcy actually felt bad about that, but now she was concerned about who her rescuer/possible-new-captor was. Just her luck to go from the frying pan straight to the bonfire, she thought with a groan that was muffled by her gag.

She stiffened, however, when she got a good look at the figure walking towards her. She knew who it was. Of course she did, she'd seen the footage from Washington, and she had helped Kitty work almost a week straight to download all the SHIELD/HYDRA data that had been released into the internet that they could get their hands on it. There had been loads of files on her rescuer, hell, she'd been helping Steve try to find him ever since the Triskelion fell!

Not to mention the shiny metal arm was a dead giveaway.

But holy shit, the Winter Soldier had just busted down the doorway and was _walking right towards her_. This was either very good or very bad.

When the Soldier drew a knife and fluidly cut the ropes off her legs and wrists, she promptly decided that it was really, really good. She pulled the gag out of her mouth and made a face at it. Yuck, her mouth felt like it had been stuffed full of cotton, very stinky, dirty cotton at that. She really didn't want to know where that gag had been, so she promptly threw it across the room and felt very satisfied for doing so.

Looking over at Barnes (calling him "Bucky" felt too informal), Darcy saw he looked faintly amused, or at least his eyes did. And then he spoke.

"Darcy Lewis? I need your help with something."

Barnes told her what he wanted, and hell, who was she to say no? The guy had just saved her life, and Steve would probably forgive her. Eventually.

* * *

The favor Barnes wanted was actually rather simple, at least in theory.

He needed a place to lie low, rest, and recover from all the fighting and running (the former against HYDRA, and the latter from Steve) he'd been doing. Avengers Tower was the only safe place he knew of, the only place that HYDRA couldn't get into, and so the only place he felt he could let his guard down enough to get the rest he needed. He'd done his research, she'd give him that; he knew that she had her own entire floor and the least protection compared to someone like Pepper Potts or Jane, but he also knew that she had people staying with her. By his reasoning, since she already had four people living on her floor no one would notice if he accidentally left signs of his presence.

Avengers Tower was also the last place Steve would think to look for him amidst all the false trails that he had created and it had a great deal of security, so he needed her to sneak him into the building and up to her floor.

It was a brilliant plan, the irony was that he had been going to approach her after she'd left the diner with Jane but HYDRA's kidnapping had forced his hand.

In reality where the building you lived in was monitored by an AI that didn't need to sleep it was slightly tougher to pull off. She managed to work something out though, engaging Jarvis' privacy filters so Barnes wouldn't show up on the security tapes as she took him to the private elevator and straight up to her floor.

Unfortunately, she hit a snag in the form of Victor, who did not take kindly to her guest.

Darcy was just glad that it was only the coffee table and three chairs that got broken in the ensuing fight.

Still, she held off on making Victor's favorite food for four days as punishment. He had to learn sometime.

* * *

Bucky's plan worked for four months, shockingly enough. He stayed on her floor the entire time, and with the privacy filters engaged didn't have to worry about Jarvis ratting him out to Tony, who would then tell Steve.

Victor and Vanessa weren't happy about Bucky (he had given her permission to call him that in month two) staying there but otherwise didn't say anything. Kitty tried to get him to let her look at the inner workings of his metal arm (he said no, she pouted for a week until Tony unintentionally distracted her with a new program), and Emma winced for a month when she made the mistake of trying to peek into his mind. Apparently the damage had been...bad. The two of them were otherwise amiable, and Bucky had warmed to the blonde even more when Emma mentioned she might be able to help him root out some of HYDRA's programming. Peter just wanted his autograph, bless his fan-boy heart.

Unfortunately on the first day of month five, Steve dropped by to pay an unexpected visit and ask about something just in time to walk in on them playing team scrabble. Victor and Kitty were kicking their asses, but Emma and Vanessa were putting up a strong defense.

The fallout was intense, and Steve didn't talk to Darcy for a week and a half after the yelling was done.

Bucky smacked him in the back of the head for her. With the metal hand. She cooked him a feast in thanks.

* * *

Bucky staunchly refused to move to a different floor, no matter how much Steve wanted him on his floor, and Darcy couldn't help but feel smug.

* * *

Darcy and Bucky formally announced they were dating at team movie night in month six of Bucky living in the Tower i.e. the second month anyone else knew about him living in the Tower.

No one was surprised.

Kitty sulked and handed Peter and Vanessa twenty dollars each, and Victor passed Emma a ten. Darcy glared at all of them and declared they were having a Disney marathon.

Hearing the chorus of groans, she smirked and Bucky snickered (he liked Disney movies, so no problems there).

Teach them to bet on her dating life.

* * *

When they finally slept together, it was honestly nothing short of magical to Darcy, and Bucky too, judging by the look in his eyes. They took things slow and easy, just exploring and figuring out what the other liked, and Darcy discovered that that metal hand was _very_ dexterous. Bucky flashed her an impish grin when she told him so.

Neither one of them left the bed except to use the bathroom and eat for an entire day, a day in which everyone else on her floor made themselves scarce.

She made a mental note to cook them all something special as a thank you.

Then Bucky gently pulled her back to the bed and kissed her, and she stopped thinking altogether.


End file.
